We left Yalta in the afternoon
and got some wonderful views of the Crimean coastine
as we sailed towards the estuary of the Dnieper River,
which would ultimately take us to our final destination
of Kiev. The city of Kherson was, however, to be the
next place we would land some 24 hours after leaving
Yalta
Programme for 17th June (reminder)
Programme for 18th June 2008
Bruce went on an interesting
tour to the galley. It was a bit disconcerting to see how
close to the water line it was...
The Panorama Bar was a very
pleasant and relaxing venue for pre-lunch and dinner drinks
(even a light breakfast occasionally)
The next morning, we left the Black
Sea and
entered the calm waters of the Dnieper River.
Dnieper
The Dnieper is the most significant
river in Ukraine and is the third longest in Europe.
Like the Volga, it's source is in the Waldai Heights
in Moscow. It flows through White Russia, Ukraine
and finally empties into the Black Sea. The river
cuts Ukraine is half, with each side of the divide
developing in different ways. The central terrority
of the right bank belonged to Poland--Lithuania
into the 18th century, while the left bank enjoyed
extensive autonomy within Russia for a century
due to the Hetmanat (superior reign of the Cossacks)
of the Dnieper-Cossacks.
During the morning, Bruce
went on a tour of the Bridge...
... and Geoff went to a
cookery demonstration.
After lunch, most of our
fellow passengers boarded this small boat and went to "Fisherman's
Island". We decided to stay on board and just relax
as we continued to cruise on to Kherson, where the others
would eventually join us again a few hours later. While
we were on board, the ship received a thorough clean and
we had to keep dodging jets of water as the sailors tried
to ensure that all of the salt from the sea had been completely
washed away.
